Since May 25, 2018, businesses handling the data of European citizens have had to adhere to comprehensive GDPR legislation. While this sounds simple in practice, the reality of incorporating GDPR practices and staying on the right side of the law caused much debate in the months following the legislation rollout. There’s a hefty fine for organizations not adhering to GDPR practices too, so it’s something that cannot be ignored. Whether you are in the European Union or another country, GDPR is really about putting consumers privacy first, but there is a lot of confusion of when it does and doesn’t apply.
Here at HelpfulCrowd, our customers are always asking for advice on how they can collect reviews from European customers in a GDPR compliant way. And whilst we can’t give legal advice, we can share some research that we found.
GDPR is all about demonstrating a legitimate interest or consent to use consumers private information. You should be able to demonstrate that your subject has given consent for the processing and storage of their data, or argue convincingly that processing their data is required under the rules of legitimate interest.
If you haven’t already, you should ensure that your Terms & Conditions have been updated to include how you will use your customers information and also ensure that they need to agree to those Terms before they complete their transaction.
Many business owners are rightly concerned about emailing clients for customer reviews when they are not sure if this is a legitimate basis for requesting a review or asked for consent.
GDPR and asking for customer reviews
You’d be forgiven for thinking that asking clients for a review on a platform such as Facebook or through HelpfulCrowd would be considered “marketing” since it ultimately helps to promote your brand or business, but also helps other shoppers and consumers make informed purchasing decisions. However, the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) provided the following guidance in 2019:
“Emails requesting reviews are classed as service messages and not marketing.”
This means that you’re in the clear to ask your customers to review your business or products.
However, there are some important things to keep in mind:
- If you don’t have prior consent, or are unsure, you should exclude all and any marketing promotions in the review sequence, including thank you emails.
- Keep it simple and include wording that clearly states that the customer has made a purchase or used your business. For example, you could say “Thank you for your purchase, please leave us a review”. This changes the context of your email to a service email as opposed to marketing.
- Don’t ask for reviews too late or from past customers going back too far in time.
In addition to the above tips, you should ensure that your customer review request email adheres to all the usual good practices. Be personal, send follow-ups only once a reasonable amount of time has elapsed, and make it easy for customers to leave reviews.
HelpfulCrowd has created a number of templates that make it irresistible for customers and boost conversion rates. Read more about customer reviews and why they matter.
